Watchmen - Season 1 (2019)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2019
	Creator: Damon Lindelof (screenplay writer for the Lost TV-series, Prometheus, Star Trek Into Darkness, World War Z)
	Actors: Regina King, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Tom Mison, Jeremy Irons (Die Hard 3), Tim Blake Nelson (O' Brother Where Art Thou?)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Fantasy, SF, Drama, Thriller
	Conditions of visioning: December 2019, VOD, 10" tablet screen.
Synopsis: In a uchronic world that has seemingly been attacked by an interdimensional giant squid 30 years ago, masked heroes are still outlawed. But the members of the 7th Kavalry (a branch of the KKK) do wear masks, as well as the police officers in the town of Tulsa.
Review: Watchmen was one of the first movies reviewed on JoRafCinema back in 2012. In that post I described the adaptation work that had been done by Zack Snyder from a cult comics book to a visual candy that was unfortunately quickly forgotten. I still like to watch it once in a while. But be careful: this TV-series by HBO is NOT a sequel to the movie but to the comics book. This is most important considering that the movie ending was changed with respect to the book and at some point the series doesn't make sense following the films ending. Having read the book will also make you enjoy other small details that were not adapted to the movie. So I can only warmly recommend you to read Watchmen the comics book before watching the series (I want to read it again). Well in fact there is not much way around it if you want to enjoy the show. At the very least you must read or watch a YouTube summary for example, like the brief one given by NewRockstars at the beginning of the their breakdown of the first episode. Still, when watching the series I couldn't help but constantly having scenes and music from the movie in my head, making me also want to watch it again! But I didn't find it to be a bad thing. Putting the ending aside, there are no conflicts between the movie and the series: the time period is different as are the main characters and the one that are common are shown aged or ... different (trying not to spoil). The main location is different (Tulsa) and the few common places (like Ozymandias' Karnak temple) just look the same. This is very well thought. About the cast: Regina King is pretty good especially when dressed at Sister Night, Don Johnson reminds of his role in Machete, Jean Smart plays excellently an old Laurie and Tim Blake Nelson is awesome as Looking Glass (he reminds so much of Rorschach when he eats from a can although he is not the same at all). Without forgetting Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Angela's companion, Hong Chau as Lady Trieu and some other masked heroes. But the best cast is Jeremy Irons as Adrian Veidt / Ozymandias. When the movie was released I was telling everybody that a young Jeremy Irons would have been perfect for the role of Veidt and that Matthew Goode who got the part was a valid lookalike. And now Irons IS Ozymandias. Awesome! He is so much better in that role than in the one of Alfred in the Ben Affleck Batman movies like Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. I only regret that his acting is not energetic enough even in the flashbacks, and DC could have used some the sweet Marvel de-ageing technology for a better effect. So what about the series?? I loved it, as reflected by the rating of 8/10. It takes a few episodes to dive into the tone that was selected and the strong emphasis on racial conflicts. Watching the YouTube review of the series first episodes Watchmen was already woke made me learn this new term that "refers to a perceived awareness of issues concerning social justice and racial justice". Yes the series is that, but it is totally fine as the comics book was also a reflection on the contemporary political / social landscape. The series pilot is also great at publicizing the 1921 Tulsa Race Riot which I though at first was a made-up event for the series (sadly it isn't, check the Wikipedia page). The series counts only 9 episodes but once you are familiar with the Universe, you get hit by the origin stories in S1E5 Little Fear of Lightning and the two best episodes of the season S1E7 This Extraordinary Being and S1E8 A God Walks into Abar. I enjoyed them like I haven't a movie or series in a long time. And I did so by taking my time and watching them in better conditions, one at a time and on a large TV. I realize I came that far without even mentioning the story! Well, tension rises in the town of Tulsa between masked bad guys and masked police officers. Slowly the link is made to the events of the Watchmen story. There are many mysteries at the beginning (the creators of the show did Lost) but answers come when needed so that you don't get frustrated like by that other show. The last episode S1E9 See How They Fly is slightly disappointing, I think because it suffers from the comparison with the crescendo of the three preceding ones. Still I appreciated the conclusion, and for one would be perfectly happy without further seasons.
Rating: 8 /10

Toy Story 4 (2019)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2019
	Director: Josh Cooley
	Actors (voices): Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Annie Potts
	Country: USA
	Genre: Animation, Comedy
	Conditions of visioning: 14.11.2019, in-flight entertainment, 10" tablet screen.
Synopsis: Cowboy toy Woody (Hanks) would do anything for his kid, even pushing a new toy forward while he is himself rejected. A road-trip will be the opportunity to show how far he is ready to go.
Review: Toy Story was a pioneer, Toy Story 2 has been called the best sequel ever, but I don't have a very strong or positive memory of Toy Story 3 which felt like a cheap direct-to-video for kids, while its predecessors had deeper layers of meaning for adults as well. I was thus positively surprised by the U-turn operated by this 4th movie in the new themes it tackles. Our favorite characters are still all together but are now with their third kid as the previous two outgrew them. So the toys have evolved not to be attached to one kid in particular, but they want to bring joy to any kid. This is a lesson learned in particular by Woody and in that respect his role fells like one of a young parent, which is maybe why the movie talked to me. He would do anything to support his kid through good and bad times, to the selfless point of being supplanted by the new toy Forky (this reminds the story of the first movie as well). The movie is centered on Woody, introduces Forky as I wrote, brings forward Bo Peep to a leading role, while putting the older characters including Buzz on the side. But this is not bad, the duo has lived its best days and to succeed Toy Story 4 had to go for a fresh story. The adventures lived by the toys are all entertaining and keep a good pace, and the encounter with the new toy / villain Gabby is interesting until its resolution. Finally, during the whole movie I had in the back of my mind the feeling that something was going to happen when seeing how Woody was reacting and feeling like he kept going through the same things over and over again. The ending thus didn't disappoint me, and contributes in making this movie more than an easy-to-watch sequel. Should they decide to stop the franchise here or wait a little and take it somewhere else, both options could be satisfying to me.
Rating: 6 /10

Fargo - Season 3 (2017)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2017
	Writer: Noah Hawley + others
	Actors: Ewan McGregor (The Island, Transpotting), Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Deathproof, The Thing), David Thewlis (Wonder Woman)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Black Comedy, Polar
	Conditions of visioning: May-November 2019, VOD, 10" tablet screen
Synopsis: A twisted sibling rivalry leads to murder, mobsters and cutthroat competitive bridge in a small Midwestern town.
Review: The movie Fargo is fantastic, and the concept of the series (Season 1, Season 2) is pretty good. This one follows the same spirit, and has even less connections to the rest but as I read online, they "really don't need a bunch of criss-crossing characters and storylines in order to feel like they take place in the same universe". Indeed the usual ingredients are sufficient: snow and cold weather, Minnesota, simple people, a female police officer in conflict with her male hierarchy, normal people ending up doing bad deeds in spite of their good heart, and true bad people. It's a special recipe that always brings back memories from the other stories. Of course the movie and series relies on very good actors and this season is no exception: Mary Elizabeth Winstead is great and dynamic, David Thewlis is devilish, and it took me half of the first episode to recognize Ewan McGregor playing two roles with a make-up that really hides his face and who uses an accent and acting far from his usual self. Brilliant. The rest of the less-known cast is no less wonderful. The season slows down in the middle, which caused me to take a break of several months, but I then quickly completed it. the story is convoluted as expected and you feel bad for the characters stuck in the situation they are.  Still working after three seasons, let's see what the fourth brings with a synopsis like "The head of an African American crime syndicate goes to war with the Italian mafia in Kansas City, Missouri during the 1950s".
Rating: 5 /10

Stan & Ollie (2018)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2018
	Director: Jon S. Baird (Filth)
	Actors: Steve Coogan (Night at the Museum 1-2), John C. Reilly (Guardians of the Galaxy, The Lobster, Kong: Skull Island), Shirley Henderson
	Country: USA, GB, CDN
	Genre: Comedy, Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 28.09.2019, in-flight entertainment 10" screen
Synopsis: Laurel and Hardy, the world's most famous comedy duo, attempt to reignite their film careers as they embark on what becomes their swan song - a grueling theatre tour of post-war Britain.
Review: Even though I haven't seen any of their work in 30 years, I remember very well how the slapstick visual humor from Laurel and Hardy made me laugh as a kid. I knew nothing of their real-life story and didn't know about this movie, but I was immediately motivated to see it. As usual to make a good biopic, this movies doesn't relate flatly how the pair met, started, achieved glory and ended. It rather focuses on the end of their career, in fact on a turning point where they get back together after a long separation, when their fame is not what it used to be. It is a interesting choice, one that had the potential to bring a lot of Drama to the story instead of an easier choice of making a positive comedy about a success story. This balance of Drama and Comedy (present and past via some flashbacks)  makes for an excellent and very touching movie. I liked it a lot. Technically, it does wonders at sending you back in time and showing the backstage of their most famous pieces. How they walk past the sets while discussing, and ending on the scene between the camera and the background screen behind them. This definitely makes me want to watch some of their classics again. Their personal difficulties are also well represented between money problems, alcoholism, gambling, women, health... those problems that you know plague the life of artists nowadays, exposed by the media, were already present at that time but probabaly not known. For example I was not surprised to learn that they were living a poor man's life, being screwed over by the studios. The movie is also very good at exposing how much of showmen were those two characters, and how hard they worked to grab on to success at the end. Finally, Stan & Ollie wouldn't be so good without the talent of its two main actors, John C. Reilly in particular which is unrecognizable and brings so much to the character.
Rating: 7 /10

Disenchantment - Season 2 (2019)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2019
	Creators: Matt Groening, Josh Weinstein
	Actors (voices): Abbi Jacobson, Eric André, Nat Faxon
	Country: USA
	Genre: Comedy, Animation, Fantasy
	Conditions of visioning: October 2019, VOD, 10" tablet screen
Synopsis: In Dreamland our characters Bean, Elfo and Luci have to struggle to get back together, facing many enemies and situations.
Review: I rather liked the first season of Disenchantment, especially where it went towards the end. This entire second season follows this spirit of telling a long story instead of single adventures in each episodes. A few are more independent (like S2E5 Our Bodies, Our Elves) but you can't really watch the season out of order. So this season is going somewhere, and the characters evolve while they progress in the story, but unfortunately I find it even less funny than the first one, and too repetitive. The drawings and landscapes and animation still look good, and the creators are not short of ideas, but I didn't laugh much. I almost watched this season to pass time with easy Animation rather than to really get hooked or entertained, and that is not a good thing. Writing this review two months after watching it, I realize I remember very little about it (I had to read the episodes' summary to get some memory back) which is also not good. A third season is confirmed.
Rating: 4 /10

Van Helsing (2004)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2004
	Director: Stephen Sommers (The Mummy 1-2, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra)
	Actors: Hugh Jackman (The Fountain, Real Steel), Kate Beckinsale (Underworld 1-5, Total Recall), Richard Roxburgh, David Wenham (The Lord of the Rings 2-3, 300)
	Country: USA, CZ, RO
	Genre: Adventure, Horror
	Conditions of visioning: September 2019, VOD, 10" tablet screen
Synopsis: The notorious monster hunter is sent to Transylvania to stop Count Dracula who is using Dr. Frankenstein's research and a werewolf for some sinister purpose.
Review: It took me four attempts to go through the two hours of the movie. I hadn't seen it since its cinema release and all I remembered was the funny side: anachronisms, Van Helsing action hero played by Hugh Jackman with a terrible wig, upbeat Flamenco music supposed to illustrate the European setting and the ridiculous side-kick played by David Wenham fresh out of The Return of the King where he played Faramir. I didn't remember how much of a melting pot the movie was and how annoying to watch that made it. 13 years before Universal studios tried to launch their 'Dark Universe' with The Mummy, Van Helsing was already combining the vampire hunter and his nemesis, ghouls, Frankenstein and his monster, Dr Jekyll &Mr. Hyde and werewolves, plus the religion background origin story borrowed from Dracula 2000!!! Nothing less.  The necessary digital effects are generous and watchable most of the time although not of the best quality. And on paper the concept is attractive, but for some reason the movie is annoying. Maybe too many unbelievable action scenes and twists. Director Stephen Sommers was trendy at the time after the success of his Indiana Jones-style humorous Mummy reboot with Brendan Fraser, but Van Helsing ended this.
Rating: 3 /10

La Smala (1984)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1984
	Director: Jean-Loup Hubert
	Actors: Victor Lanoux (Adieu Poulet, Canicule, Les Démons de Jésus), Josiane Balasko (Le père Noël est une ordure, Papy fait de la résistance, Gazon maudit), Dominique Lavanant (Les Bronzés, Les bronzés font du ski, Papy fait de la résistance)
	Country: F
	Genre: Comedy
	Conditions of visioning: 22.09.2019, in-flight entertainment 10" screen.
Synopsis: Robert (Lanoux) was abandoned with five kids by his wife. The nanny Simone (Balasko) feels for him and reluctantly helps the family when they travel to Paris looking for Robert's wife.
Review: As often, flying Air France is the opportunity to watch French movies. And more often oldies rather than recent releases. I hadn't seen La Smala in decades and it was nice to see all those known actors, pretty young at the time. I had only a vague recollection of the story, and now watching the movie as adult I see the different (social) layers in it as I didn't last time I saw it as kid or teenager. The movie depicts in a very realistic way the "live one day at a time" lifestyle of the big cities suburbs in France in the 80's. Unlike in the USA for example, suburbs in France are where big apartment buildings were built to house the working (or later unemployed) class. So nothing very dreamy, little money but a strong community spirit. And this is what is depicted in the movie, between the absent mother, the mixed family including other kids, a grandma and the nanny, neighbors stories... The reaction of the characters are not driven by logic but by friendship, passion and survival. This makes for a much more touching movie than the one taking place in a similar environment a decade later: La Haine, and in which characters are driven by (repressed) hate and anger. The audience feels (or at least felt at the time of release) sympathy for the characters and their struggle in La Smala. It is a comedy but dark at times and with a strong social context which makes you feel a large panel of emotions in fact. Several details show that the movie was well-thought and had many things to say, like the background of some characters which is just hinted, or Robert's wife that we in fact never see. Recommended for a sample of good French cinema from that period.
Rating: 7 /10

Dark Phoenix (2019)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2019
	Director: Simon Kinberg
	Actors: James McAvoy (Filth), Michael Fassbender (Inglorious Basterds), Jennifer Lawrence (Passengers, The Hunger Games)
	Country: USA, CDN
	Genre: Action, SF
	Conditions of visioning: 21.09.2019, in-flight entertainment 10" screen.
Synopsis: During a rescue mission in Space, the X-men are successful but Jean Grey (Turner) absorbs a cosmic force which will free her potential.
Review: I stand by my opinion that the X-men franchise should have stopped with Days of Future Past and that Logan brought the Wolverine spin-off trilogy to a satisfying end. Even if everybody agrees that the Dark Phoenix apparently excellent comics saga was badly adapted into X-men 3: The Last Stand, I was not sure another attempt was a good idea and when I see the result, it was definitely not worth it. I can't watch any more X-men movies with the same old ingredients: Xavier always on the good side but questioned by his team, Magneto turning bad for even a short length of time, Mystique, Beast, Cyclops and Jean Gray... At least Sophie Turner plays better in this one. Even the addition of new mutants doesn't help anymore (Quicksilver the only highlight in Apocalypse is quasi-absent in this movie). They would need a seriously new approach to keep me interested, like they did with Logan. It is said that some re-shoots were done, supposedly to distance the movie from Captain Marvel that came out around the same time: female lead, glowing powers, shape-shifting aliens... But that's not too apparent and I didn't find it an issue. It is just that there is nothing new in those movies apart from a few moments like the opening scene in which Mutants and finally heroes fully integrated to society and helping it.
Rating: 4 /10

Pokémon: Detective Pikachu (2019)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2019
	Director: Rob Letterman (Monsters vs. Aliens)
	Actors: Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool 1-2), Justice Smith (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom), Kathryn Newton, Bill Nighy (Shaun of the Dead), Ken Watanabe (Godzilla)
	Country: USA, J, GB, CDN
	Genre: Animation, Polar, Adventure
	Conditions of visioning: 16.09.2019, in-flight entertainment, 10" tablet screen
Synopsis: After his dad, a detective he barely knew, dies in a car accident, Tim (Smith) travels to the big city to wrap some things up. There, Humans and Pokemons live in harmony. He will soon meet his dad's Pokemon which he can speak to, and discover an evil plot.
Review: I missed the Pokemon video-game craze by a few years, I was just a little too old to ride it (and a Sega guy rather than Nintendo). But I remember it very well, my brother played it and I know the basics: the tournaments, trainers, underdog Pikachu, even the big bad Mewtwo. I think the movie talks to this audience, the one that played the game when it went out and is now in its thirties, but also to different generations that may have played different versions of it during the years, including the addictive Augmented-reality Pokemon Go. In fact the movie is also an adaptation of a 2016 video game. The movie nicely treats the whole tournament story into the past, giving just enough backstory for the newbies, and then moves on to a different thing, a sort of Adventure-Polar-Comedy-Superhero movie. The talking pet plot reminded me of Ted, probably thanks to the voice of Ryan Reynolds and the few dirty, definitely not children-suited jokes he managed to place. The World-building is fine, probably better if you are nostalgic of when you played the game in your youth and recognize the variety of Pokemons shown on screen. The story is not too bad, except for a few major loopholes that pulled me out of the movie, most importantly (spoiler, highlight to read): how did the kid not recognize the voice of Pikachu?!? In the end not as bad as one could have feared for another adaptation of video game that seems to come too late and drowned in many other (The Angry Birds Movie to quote just one).
Rating: 5 /10

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2006
	Director: Justin Lin (Fast & Furious 4-5-6-9-10, Star Trek Beyond)
	Actors: Lucas Black, Zachery Ty Bryan, Shad Moss
	Country: USA, D, J
	Genre: Action
	Conditions of visioning: 12.09.2019, Blu-ray, 42" TV screen.
Synopsis: Being too dangerous as an addict to car races, Sean (Black) is sent to live with his father in Japan. At school and outside, he inevitably meets characters introducing him to the world of Drift races.
Review: After a first The Fast & the Furious that was only original at the time and a cheap sequel 2 Fast 2 Furious, this third movie may be the best in the series up to that point. Instead of trying to tell yet another undercover cop story with any of the original characters, it goes a whole different way and looks for a fresh atmosphere in Japan like other American movie, action or other, did before it: Rising Sun, Lost in Translation, Kill Bill, The Wolverine, a tiny bit of Avengers: Endgame... Having been there myself and familiar with Japanese cinema, I can tell that as those other movies I quote, Tokyo Drift does manage in depicting properly what it feels like to be in the country (or watch a movie from there), in a few aspects at least. No stereotypes like in other less well-informed westerner productions, but a feeling that the director Justin Lin knows about the culture he is showing us. Only negative points are the rare occasions when Japanese characters speak English between themselves even when alone. After dragster-style races and city circuits, the third movie cleverly introduces yet another type of auto-action: Drifting, performed with smaller cars in cramped parking lots or winding country roads, all well-adapted to the island-country. At first I though weird to have a Car chase movie in Japan (not known for muscle cars) but as the story and car-fandom style is adapted to the country, it all fits relatively well. Or course the chases, cars, bimbos, villains and main characters reaction are all over-the-top but what did you expect? At least the movie traded the light-speed effects and over-use of Nitrogen Oxyde for more readable races and decent special effects, even at night. The small role given to Sonny Chiba (The Bullet Train, Kill Bill) in the third act and the link to the other movies in the epilogue are nice bonuses. I am looking forward to watching the fourth movie which I heard is a turning point in the series.
Rating: 5 /10